Pakistani deal with Taliban
October 14th, 2006 by ashish
I was reading an article that talks about the deal that Pakistan signed with the Taliban / Tribal elders in its remote province of Waziristan. You can also read the article here. In addition, if you do a Google search for more articles on this topic, I will link to this article from the BBC. You can find far more critical articles on the web, but typically the BBC will try to present both views and attempt to appear balanced. But if you read this article, you will find so many doses of reality - the Pakistani Govt has catipulated, gives a free reign to militants, attacks in Afghanistan will only increase.
If you actually do a very simple analysis of the situation, one point stands out very clear. This is a piece of territory over which the Pakistani Govt has effectively ceded control. Now, in a lot of countries, the Govt fights over some part of the territory, but very rarely does the Govt tell people, “We do not want any more confrontation, please go ahead and do what you want”. This is effectively what the Pakistani Govt. It has given a base to militants to seek shelter as well as train, and then go back and fight the NATO led force in Afghanistan. It also speaks of the fear psychosis that Gen Musharaff has managed to induce in western capitals that if he goes, they will have to deal with madmen and that he is absolutely essential.
Now, it is true that Pakistan has a severe right wing and fringe of theocracy, but Pakistan also has a section of society that is very educated, they have a thriving economy, do people really think that Pakistan will suddenly have a religious fanatic take over who will threaten the world with terrorism and nuclear weapons. Especially when Pakistan does not have abundant resources of oil or other similar economic resources. How long will NATO countries let their soldiers get injured / killed in Afghanistan fighting against militants trained and supported in Pakistan ?
